Work – from In the heart of the Temple by Sr Joan Chittister

Once upon a time, the ancients tell us, a disciple said to the rabbi, “God took six days to create the world and it is not perfect. How is that possible?” “Could you have done better?” the rabbi asked. “Yes, I think I could have,” the disciple said. “Then what are you waiting for?” the rabbi said. “Go ahead. Start working.”

… work is the way we really live in solidarity with the poor of the world. Work is our commitment not to live off others, not to sponge, not to shirk, not to cheat. Giving less than a day’s work for a day’s pay, shunting work off onto underlings, assuming that personal days are automatically just additional vacation days, taking thirty-minute coffee breaks in the fifteen-minute schedule, doing one coat of paint where we promised to do two, are not what was meant to “till the Garden and keep it”.

Work is our gift to the future. It is our sign that God goes on working in the world through us. It is the very stuff of divine ambition. And it will never be over. The philosopher wrote, “Do you want a test to know if your work in life is over? If you are still alive, it isn’t.” As the rabbi and the disciple both well knew, God needs us to complete God’s work. Now.Taken from “Our Light and our Salvation” Advent reflections from the works of Henri J. M. Nouwen